Morocco firmly rejected on Monday Spain’s accusations that it had deliberately allowed a massive influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Officials in Rabat attributed the crisis to a Spanish court ruling issued on July 8, which weakened immediate deportation measures for migrants arriving by sea.
A senior Moroccan official emphasized that Spanish authorities should have anticipated the consequences of this decision, which networks of smugglers quickly exploited by spreading false information that migrants would be granted protection upon reaching Spanish territory. « Europe asks us to prevent crossings, but on the other side, they roll out the red carpet once they happen, » the official stated.
Juan Jesús Vivas, president of Ceuta, had previously accused Morocco of « encouraging and enabling » the surge. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also warned against using irregular migration as a political bargaining chip against an EU member state.
Morocco denied any reduction in border security or migration control measures prior to last week’s mass crossings. Authorities emphasized that nearly 24,000 security personnel are deployed along the northern coast to curb illegal migration.
Rabat reported preventing 79,000 crossing attempts in 2024 and 74,000 since the beginning of 2026. It described cooperation with Spain on migration control as « exemplary » until the July judicial ruling.
In response, Morocco urged Madrid to restore an effective deterrence mechanism while stressing that the country « will never be complicit in a purely security-driven approach to migration. »
